Uncorked (7 page)

She had not had much of an
appetite or eaten anything substantial since breakfast Saturday morning, but as
she walked through the lobby, she felt hungry. She stopped by the restaurant to
get something to eat. Mitch sat alone near the window overlooking the marina.
He had a folder along with his ipad, and it appeared he might be there for a
meeting. She could have left before she saw him, but she was happy to see him.
She approached his table. He was reading from his folder and never saw her
coming.

“What brings you over here?”

“Chella,” he said as he stood up
and pulled her in a warm embrace. “It’s great to see you. I have a meeting with
a client. He called to say he’s running late. Would you like to sit down?”

“For a minute. Are you having
dinner?”

“No, just drinks.”

“Why don’t I order us some dinner
from the room service menu? Technically, I owe you a meal. We never got around
to lunch on Saturday.”

“That sounds great…”

“I’m in room 758. I’ll see you
when you’re done?”

“See you soon, Chell.”

“Have the police
made any progress?” Mitch asked
as they sat on the patio eating dinner.

“Nothing. They can’t find him. He
hasn’t lived at home in years, and he and his father have a bad relationship.
Detective Carter told me his father hasn’t spoken to him in five years.”

“What about his mother or other
family?”

“Apparently, she died. They used
to be close. He had an older brother, but I never met him.”

“So what’s next?”

“I guess we play the waiting
game. I just have to be really careful.”

“Where does he work?” Mitch asked
as they cleared the plates together then sat on the living room sofa drinking
coffee.

“I don’t know. He could be living
off his trust fund—his father is loaded. Or maybe he gambles. I have no clue
what career path he might have chosen, if any. He used to be good at graphics,
but I don’t know if it’s something he ever pursued.”

“Is there anything I can do to
help?”

“Be careful. I’m afraid to have
you in my life. I don’t want you to become a target.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of
research. Do you know he’s more likely to target you if he knows you’re alone?”

“And he’s also likely to target
the people in my life and people he knows I care about. I’m almost certain he
saw me getting into your car, Mitch. He knows what you drive. It’s possible he
saw you at my place on Friday night. Let’s face it, your car isn’t common,
which makes you easy to find.”

“I’ll change my vehicle if that
would make you happy.”

“Stop being ridiculous. This is
not a joking matter.”

“Who says I’m joking? I want to
be in your life. Your concern seems legitimate, so why not change my car.”

“That’s absurd. You just bought
that car; I’m not going to ask you to do that.”

“Chella, you didn’t ask me. I
volunteered. I have access to other vehicles. I may not sell my car, but I can
park it for now until he’s arrested.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I’m falling in like with
you and I want to spend time with you and I want to get to know you and I want
you in my life.”

“I want that, too, but I’m
afraid, for so many different reasons,” she whispered, closing her eyes, taking
a deep breath, trying hard to control her emotions. She felt his warm hands on
her face, brushing aside her hair, and he kissed her softly of her cheek.

“Chella, look at me.” he
murmured. “Please.”

“What?”

“Open your eyes.”

She did. A tear rolled down her
cheek.

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to do
this alone. Not anymore. You’ve done it that way long enough.”

She wrapped her arms around him
in a warm embrace. “I’m not used to this. You’ll have to be patient.”

“Trust me, I know that,” he
replied, and kissed her tenderly on her lips.

In the coming
weeks, Chella and Mitch took
things slow. They spent time together almost daily, either having lunch
together, or meeting up for dinner or drinks after work. He had cooked her
dinner a few more times, and they discovered how much they enjoyed spending
time together. His uniform when he was at home and wanted to relax was grey sweatpants
and nothing else. If he had to wear a shirt, it was linen and long-sleeved,
usually rolled to his elbows.

They developed habits with each
other as well. He would take her to work and home when she needed to go to the
office. She would call him before going to bed. A game of tennis at the
athletic club a couple of times a week became a routine. They even went grocery
shopping together sometimes, and he’d always make it a point to get her a
couple of bottles of her favorite beverage, Moët champagne. They reserved Dom
for special occasions.

Despite of the amount of time
they had spent together, they had not had sex. Mitch told her he wanted her to
be sure she was ready and it was what she wanted, even though their kissing got
hot and heavy at times.

Chella had some of the same
concerns as well. After being out of commission for at least two years, she had
her own insecurities and fears to deal with that had nothing to do with Mitch.
Would she be good enough? Would she be able to please him? Would it be
uncomfortable, both emotionally and physically this time around?

One night, a make-out session
started to get a little out of control in the car when Mitch dropped her at
home, causing these insecurities to surface. Once in her suite, she immediately
called Kacy. Chella’s fears were put to ease after talking to her psychologist
friend about it. Evidently, she had been doing the right thing. Kacy advised
her to take her time with Mitch.

As time passed, she felt more
comfortable with him and the insecurities and fears dissipated. She appreciated
how patient he had been with her. Not once had he ever pushed her, not even in
the slightest. She was more comfortable with him, and the last time things got
a little too heavy between them, they managed to joke about his arousal and
subsequent cold shower without being completely humiliated.

Therefore, in the eyes of
everyone, especially their mischievous friends who had set them up, a blooming
romance had developed between the two. It was only a matter of time before they
took things to the next level.

One Wednesday evening,
after not seeing each other for
two days, Mitch invited Chella to attend a client’s evening cocktail party with
him. It wasn’t a huge gathering, so she agreed to go.

After cocktails, they returned to
Mitch’s penthouse to watch a movie. An intense love scene played out on the
screen. Chella found herself completely aroused and wondered what it would be
like if Mitch were doing what was taking place on the screen to her.

Mitch was already close by,
spooning her on the couch. She tilted her body slightly toward him. She knew he
was having the same thoughts. He pulled her to him, devouring her mouth,
caressing her soft skin, and sinking his hand into her hair as he plunged his
tongue into her mouth.

He moved on top of her. She felt
his firm erection. He slipped the strap of her dress down her shoulders,
kissing her neck then her throat. He released the buttons that covered her
breasts, cleared away the fabric between his hands and her breasts then kissed
and sucked her nipples.

Chella had just started to pull
away his shirt when his cell phone rang. They ignored it. After a second, the
vibrations stopped and she continued by completely removing his shirt. His
phone rang again. This time Chella found it hard to disregard. By the time
Mitch answered, whomever it was had hung up to call his land line.

“Somebody’s trying to reach you,”
Chella said.

“It’s Rusty from the office. His
timing couldn’t be worse.” Mitch snatched the phone off the nearby end table
and answered it. “Hey Rusty, what’s up?”

He was still on top of Chella,
kissing her gently on her cheek, when his face turned serious. He pulled away
and stood up.

Something was wrong.

“Hi Mitch. We have a problem,”
said Rusty at the other end of the line.

“What’s wrong?”

“The office has been vandalized.
Someone threw bricks through the front entry doors.”

“Did you see anyone?”

“No. The building was locked, and
I was upstairs in my office working when I heard the glass shatter. The alarm
went straight to the monitoring site and the police. They’re here now.”

“See if it’s possible to get the
glass replaced tonight. If not, get it boarded up until tomorrow.”

“Repair men have already taken
measurements. Mitch, I think you have a bigger problem. The police asked me who
Chella was.”

Mitch already suspected this had
something to do with Aaron, but when he heard the words from Rusty’s mouth, it
confirmed his suspicions. He was afraid to tell Chella what had happened
because she might push him away again. This was the exact reason she was
apprehensive about getting involved with him. Now everything she anticipated
was happening.

“Why?”

“They didn’t tell me, but I saw
them remove a sheet of paper from around one of the bricks.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I was honest with them. Told
them she was a woman you were seeing.”

“Okay. Tell them I’ll be there in
a few minutes.”

He hung up the phone, trying to
figure out how he was going to explain things to Chella. He didn’t want to risk
losing her. Neither did he want to lie.

“What’s wrong?” She asked as he
ended the call.

“There’s been an accident at the
office. I have to go there.”

“What kind of accident?”

He sighed. Trying to cover this
up wouldn’t work.

“Please don’t get upset, Chella.”

“What did he do?”

“He threw a few bricks through
the entry doors.”

“To your place of business? Are
you kidding me?”

“The police are there. Stay here
while I handle this.”

“Over my dead body. I’m coming
with you. This is happening to you because of me.”

“I knew this was a possibility.
This was a chance I was willing to take.”

“I can’t let you put yourself,
your business and your family at risk because of me.”

“You have no control over what
this man does. You can’t allow him to continue to manipulate and control you. This
is exactly what he wants. You keep playing right into his hands.”

“Well if playing into his hands
means the people I care about will be safe, then so be it.”

“Damn it, Chella. Are you always
this stubborn?”

“Yes, especially since this is
not your war.”

“I chose to make it my war. If
he’s messing with you, he’s messing with me. I refuse to let him bully you
anymore. Now, I have to get to the office. Please stay here ‘til I return.”

“Mitch, we can do this one of two
ways. Either you take me with you now, or I’ll tell you I’ll wait here and as
soon as you leave, I’ll take a taxi to your office. You choose.”

“God, you can be such a pain in
the ass when you make up your mind. Fine.”

Chella called Detective
Carter and told him what had
happened. He was at Mitch’s office upon their arrival.

The damage was much worse than
Rusty implied on the phone. The bricks had damaged the drywall and company logo
on the back wall opposite the entrance. Glass covered everything.

The sight of the damage
infuriated Chella.

“Why is this taking so long? How
much damage and hurt is he going to cause before he’s arrested?” Chella asked.

“We’re doing everything we can,”
said Detective Carter. “His bank accounts have been inactive for two months. As
a matter of fact, he withdrew all the money about two months ago and sold his
car on Craigslist.”

“Why would he do that?” Mitch
asked.

“He’s trying to drop off the
grid. He doesn’t want to be found. He’s maxed out all his credit cards as
well.”

“And what happens to Chella in
the meantime?” Mitch asked.

“I understand your frustration,
but I promise you that we’re doing the best we can. This makes him more
dangerous, though. With no credit cards, vehicle or phone to trace, it’s like
looking for a needle in a haystack. Let’s hope we’ll be able to get some new
information from your security cameras.”

Another police officer handed the
detective an evidence bag with a sheet of paper inside.

“What’s that?” Chella asked.